2023-05-21 07:18:23
“Oh my God! Hang on a minute!” Iuliia Medel briefly interrupted the videoconference with THE SPANISH NEWSPAPER Just start the interview. Come back after a few seconds. “Sorry, I hear sirens all the time. I think my mental health is deteriorating from listening to the alerts so much”. Medel speaks to us from his apartment in kyiv, a city where life is more or less normal until, suddenly, Russian missiles begin to fall. Medel was a spokesman for President Volodímir Zelenski until shortly before the start of the war, and knows him well. He has just published a book of his experiences with the Ukrainian leader, “The fight of our lives” (Simon & Schuster UK publisher). He recounts, for example, a meeting between the president with a pacifist program (his campaign was based on the end of the Donbas war) and the Russian Vladimir Putin. In it he reviews the situation of the invaded country and the prospects for the war. Medel also broadcasts his vision of the war daily to his 150,000 followers on Twitter.
Question: You who know the president well, how have you seen him change in this time of war? Answer: The question is difficult. I think Zelensky has become stronger, stricter and more unshakable. He is very goal oriented, and his only goal right now is to defeat Russia.
Q: Why have you delayed the counteroffensive? Last week he assured that not all the weapons had arrived, but the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, He had said that almost all of them were already there. A: I think there’s been a communication problem. I think the offense is delayed by logistics to begin with. From the time the weapons arrive until they are delivered, or are repaired (some arrive defective), it takes a while. Perhaps everything promised has been delivered, but not everything has reached the front. When I talk to political leaders, they are uncomfortable that everyone is talking about when and how will the counteroffensive begin. I think Zelensky didn’t want to be clear about when it will start. That can hurt the chances of success. Lastly, a lot of ammo is missing.
Q: What do you think Spain could help with now? A: The ammunition. That is a very serious problem now. Of course, we ask for F-16s, but I think the Ukrainian government knows that the F-16 is something that is not going to come fast: you need trained pilots, which takes a year or a year and a half.
Q: Is help from Spain considered sufficient there? In the lists of taxpayers in weapons we are down… A: I think I know how the president would respond. It will be enough when we win. Until then, it will be insufficient. Here it is highly appreciated that Spain, a distant country, has joined the community of countries that support Ukraine. For Poland or the Baltics it is a much more direct question.
Q: In what situation is the war? A: We are at a crucial moment. I have been speaking in recent days with important members of the Government and I have detected that there is a clear determination to reach a peace agreement. But also that they cannot forget the occupied areas and the people who live there, or the children who have been stolen. Peace will not be just about an agreement, it must also be about justice and the victory of international law. Ukraine, which was recognized by the international community in 1991, seeks the maximum: to recover all of its territory. What will be achieved, will be seen.
Q: Can you tell us more about that negotiating spirit? Start negotiations or negotiate after seeing how the counteroffensive turns out? A: The first sure thing is to see how the counteroffensive comes out. Zelenski wants to get back all the territory from 1991. But he also understands that a long war is counterproductive. The economy is bad and we depend on the West. It will be difficult for the West to give us financial support on all fronts in the coming years. And he wants the emigrants to return, before they make their lives abroad. We have heard that Zelensky is determined to end the war this year, and I know that he is. We have been with government people who say they want full peace before December. What will that peace be like? It depends on the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the support of our partners.
Q: In political terms, does the Zelensky government make any self-criticism? A: I have not spoken with him about self-criticism that is made. But I think that the politicians in Ukraine are rethinking the position they had before the war, in having relied on the agreements with Russia or Belarus. […] questions about Kherson will also arise. About how such a huge city of 300,000 people fell so quickly into Russian hands, and the fortifications that were put up were of no use.
Q: Zelensky has had to reform his government because of corruption, specifically related to military shipments. How can international donors be given confidence that aid will not be stolen? A: Corruption is Ukraine’s biggest internal enemy. In a recent poll, 53% of Ukrainians believe that corrupt politicians are worse than collaborators with Russia, and 84% believe that we need to expose corruption. This Tuesday a huge corruption case was revealed. The president of the highest Supreme Court of Ukraine was arrested for corruption. They captured him for the bribe he wanted to accept. 2.7 million dollars.
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